scholarly journals Sustainability Assessment and Engineering of Emerging Aircraft Technologies—Challenges, Methods and Tools

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 5663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Pinheiro Melo ◽  
Alexander Barke ◽  
Felipe Cerdas ◽  
Christian Thies ◽  
Mark Mennenga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Electric Propulsion ◽  
Alternative Fuels ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Integrated Modelling ◽  
Propulsion Systems ◽  
Screening Process ◽  
Recommendations For Action

Driven by concerns regarding the sustainability of aviation and the continued growth of air traffic, increasing interest is given to emerging aircraft technologies. Although new technologies, such as battery-electric propulsion systems, have the potential to minimise in-flight emissions and noise, environmental burdens are possibly shifted to other stages of the aircraft’s life cycle, and new socio-economic challenges may arise. Therefore, a life-cycle-oriented sustainability assessment is required to identify these hotspots and problem shifts and to derive recommendations for action for aircraft development at an early stage. This paper proposes a framework for the modelling and assessment of future aircraft technologies and provides an overview of the challenges and available methods and tools in this field. A structured search and screening process is used to determine which aspects of the proposed framework are already addressed in the scientific literature and in which areas research is still needed. For this purpose, a total of 66 related articles are identified and systematically analysed. Firstly, an overview of statistics of papers dealing with life-cycle-oriented analysis of conventional and emerging aircraft propulsion systems is given, classifying them according to the technologies considered, the sustainability dimensions and indicators investigated, and the assessment methods applied. Secondly, a detailed analysis of the articles is conducted to derive answers to the defined research questions. It illustrates that the assessment of environmental aspects of alternative fuels is a dominating research theme, while novel approaches that integrate socio-economic aspects and broaden the scope to battery-powered, fuel-cell-based, or hybrid-electric aircraft are emerging. It also provides insights by what extent future aviation technologies can contribute to more sustainable and energy-efficient aviation. The findings underline the need to harmonise existing methods into an integrated modelling and assessment approach that considers the specifics of upcoming technological developments in aviation.

scholarly journals Collaborating constructively for sustainable biotechnology

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas E. Matthews ◽  
Carrie A. Cizauskas ◽  
Donovan S. Layton ◽  
Laurence Stamford ◽  
Philip Shapira
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Impact Categories ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Analytical Approaches

AbstractTackling the pressing sustainability needs of society will require the development and application of new technologies. Biotechnology, emboldened by recent advances in synthetic biology, offers to generate sustainable biologically-based routes to chemicals and materials as alternatives to fossil-derived incumbents. Yet, the sustainability potential of biotechnology is not without trade-offs. Here, we probe this capacity for sustainability for the case of bio-based nylon using both deliberative and analytical approaches within a framework of Constructive Sustainability Assessment. We highlight the potential for life cycle CO2 and N2O savings with bio-based processes, but report mixed results in other environmental and social impact categories. Importantly, we demonstrate how this knowledge can be generated collaboratively and constructively within companies at an early stage to anticipate consequences and to inform the modification of designs and applications. Application of the approach demonstrated here provides an avenue for technological actors to better understand and become responsive to the sustainability implications of their products, systems and actions.

Life Cycle Analysis for a Powertrain in a Concept for Electric Power Generation in a Hybrid Electric Aircraft

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Schneider ◽  
Jens Dickhoff ◽  
Karsten Kusterer ◽  
Wilfried Visser
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Electric Propulsion ◽  
Aircraft Engine ◽  
Propulsion System ◽  
Civil Aviation ◽  
Propulsion Systems ◽  
Hybrid Propulsion ◽  
Hybrid Electric ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In the recent decades, civil aviation was growing 4.7% per annum. In order to reduce emissions promoting the global warming process, alternative propulsion systems are needed. Full-electric propulsion systems in aviation might have the potential for emission-free flights using renewable energy. However, several research efforts indicate electric propulsion only seems feasible for small aircraft. Especially due to the low energy density of batteries compared to fossil fuels. For this reason, hybrid propulsion systems came into focus, combining the benefits of all-electric and conventional propulsion system concepts. It is also considered as bridging technology, system test and basis for component development — and therewith paves the way towards CO2 free aviation. In the ‘HyFly’ project (supported by the German Luftfahrtforschungsprogramm LuFo V-3), the potential of a hybrid electric concept for a short/mid-range 19 PAX aircraft is assessed — not only on system but also on single component basis. In a recent study, the propulsion architecture and the operating mode of the gas turbine and the electric components have been defined [1]. In this paper, the advantages of the hybrid propulsion architecture and a qualitative assessment of component life are presented. Methods for life time prediction for the aircraft engine, the electric motor, the reluctance generator and the battery are discussed. The impact of turbine inlet temperature on life consumption is analyzed. The life cycle of the aircraft engine and the electric components including gradual component deterioration and consequent performance degradation is simulated by using an in-house gas turbine simulation tool (GTPsim). Therefore, various effects on electric propulsion system can be predicted for the entire drivetrain system in less than one hour.

When Is the ‘right’ Time to Initiate an Assessment of a Health Technology

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 372-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Mowatt ◽  
D. Jane Bower ◽  
John A. Brebner ◽  
John A. Cairns ◽  
Adrian M. Grant ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Critical Point ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Optimal Timing ◽  
Precautionary Approach ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
The Right

AbstractThere is currently no generally accepted formula for the optimal timing of health technology assessments (HTAs). This paper presents some of the relevant issues and then reviews the existing literature on timing of HTAs. It finds that the literature that specifically addresses these issues is limited. There is a consensus that HTAs should be initiated at an early stage of the development of a new health technology, and repeated during the life cycle of the technology. However, the questions of reliably identifying new technologies at an early stage in their development and of deciding on a detectable critical point for starting evaluation are not resolved. It is proposed that a system of categorization and prioritization of health technologies should be developed to allow decisions to be made as to when a strongly precautionary approach is required and how the limited resources available for HTA could be optimally deployed.

scholarly journals Are Sustainable Aviation Fuels a Viable Option for Decarbonizing Air Transport in Europe? An Environmental and Economic Sustainability Assessment

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 597
Author(s):  
Alexander Barke ◽  
Timo Bley ◽  
Christian Thies ◽  
Christian Weckenborg ◽  
Thomas S. Spengler
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Alternative Fuels ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Economic Assessment ◽  
Economic Sustainability ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Viable Option ◽  
Electricity Mix ◽  
Harmful Effects

The use of drop-in capable alternative fuels in aircraft can support the European aviation sector to achieve its goals for sustainable development. They can be a transitional solution in the short and medium term, as their use does not require any structural changes to the aircraft powertrain. However, the production of alternative fuels is often energy-intensive, and some feedstocks are associated with harmful effects on the environment. In addition, alternative fuels are often more expensive to produce than fossil kerosene, which can make their use unattractive. Therefore, this paper analyzes the environmental and economic impacts of four types of alternative fuels compared to fossil kerosene in a well-to-wake perspective. The fuels investigated are sustainable aviation fuels produced by power-to-liquid and biomass-to-liquid pathways. Life cycle assessment and life cycle costing are used as environmental and economic assessment methods. The results of this well-to-wake analysis reveal that the use of sustainable aviation fuels can reduce the environmental impacts of aircraft operations. However, an electricity mix based on renewable energies is needed to achieve significant reductions. In addition, from an economic perspective, the use of fossil kerosene ranks best among the alternatives. A scenario analysis confirms this result and shows that the production of sustainable aviation fuels using an electricity mix based solely on renewable energy can lead to significant reductions in environmental impact, but economic competitiveness remains problematic.

scholarly journals A framework for implementing holistic and integrated life cycle sustainability assessment of regional bioeconomy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walther Zeug ◽  
Alberto Bezama ◽  
Daniela Thrän
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Software Environment ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
Sustainability Assessments ◽  
Goal And Scope

Abstract Purpose Currently, social, environmental, and economic risks and chances of bioeconomy are becoming increasingly a subject of applied sustainability assessments. Based on life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) aims to combine or integrate social, environmental, and economic assessments. In order to contribute to the current early stage of LCSA development, this study seeks to identify a practical framework for integrated LCSA implementation. Methods We select possible indicators from existing suitable LCA and LCSA approaches as well as from the literature, and allocate them to a sustainability concept for holistic and integrated LCSA (HILCSA), based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In order to conduct a practical implementation of HILCSA, we choose openLCA, because it offers the best current state and most future potential for application of LCSA. Therefore, not only the capabilities of the software and databases, but also the supported methods of life cycle impact assessments (LCIA) are evaluated regarding the requirements of the indicator set and goal and scope of future case studies. Results and discussion This study presents an overview of available indicators and LCIAs for bioeconomy sustainability assessments as well as their link to the SDGs. We provide a practical framework for HILCSA of regional bioeconomy, which includes an indicator set for regional (product and territorial) bioeconomy assessment, applicable with current software and databases, LCIA methods and methods of normalization, weighting, and aggregation. The implementation of HILCSA in openLCA allows an integrative LCSA by conducting all steps in a single framework with harmonized, aggregated, and coherent results. HILCSA is capable of a sustainability assessment in terms of planetary boundaries, provisioning system and societal needs, as well as communication of results to different stakeholders. Conclusions Our framework is capable of compensating some deficits of S-LCA, E-LCA, and economic assessments by integration, and shows main advantages compared to additive LCSA. HILCSA is capable of addressing 15 out of 17 SDGs. It addresses open questions and significant problems of LCSAs in terms of goal and scope, LCI, LCIA, and interpretation. Furthermore, HILCSA is the first of its kind actually applicable in an existing software environment. Regional bioeconomy sustainability assessment is bridging scales of global and regional effects and can inform stakeholders comprehensively on various impacts, hotspots, trade-offs, and synergies of regional bioeconomy. However, significant research needs in LCIAs, software, and indicator development remain.

scholarly journals Applying Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment to maximise the innovation potential of new technologies for critical components in wind turbines

2021 ◽  
Vol 2042 (1) ◽  
pp. 012103
Author(s):  
Wai Chung Lam ◽  
Sofie De Regel ◽  
Karolien Peeters ◽  
Carolin Spirinckx
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
Critical Components

Abstract Future wind turbines require flexible and economically affordable product development processes to obtain reliable and validated new concepts for larger wind turbines. Pitch bearings and gearboxes are considered critical components, due to their high contribution to the operational costs of wind farms and their high failure rates. Within the Horizon 2020 project INNTERESTING (Innovative Future-Proof Testing Methods for Reliable Critical Components in Wind Turbines) new concepts and technologies concerning two critical components are being developed for future wind turbines. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) is applied iteratively to gain insights in the more demanding requirements for future wind turbines, specifically on the reduction of capital and operational expenditures and improvement of the environmental and socio-economic performance aspects of wind turbines in order to reduce the economic, environmental and social impact of the newly developed technologies. This paper focusses on the results of the first LCSA iteration for the business-as-usual reference scenarios which will serve as a benchmark and reference for the newly to be developed solutions in the project.

scholarly journals Analysis of Electric Propulsion System for Exploration of Saturn

2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Renato Huaura Solórzano ◽  
Antonio Fernando Bertachini de Almeida Prado ◽  
Alexander Alexandrovich Sukhanov
Keyword(s):  
Electric Propulsion ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Propulsion System ◽  
Keplerian Orbit ◽  
Low Thrust ◽  
Propulsion Systems ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
Outer Planets ◽  
Electric Propulsion System ◽  
Solar Electric Propulsion

Exploration of the outer planets has experienced new interest with the launch of the Cassini and the New Horizons Missions. At the present time, new technologies are under study for the better use of electric propulsion system in deep space missions. In the present paper, the method of the transporting trajectory is used to study this problem. This approximated method for the flight optimization with power-limited low thrust is based on the linearization of the motion of a spacecraft near a keplerian orbit that is close to the transfer trajectory. With the goal of maximizing the mass to be delivered in Saturn, several transfers were studied using nuclear, radioisotopic and solar electric propulsion systems.

scholarly journals Review and Mapping of Parameters for the Early Stage Design of Adaptive Building Technologies through Life Cycle Assessment Tools

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Battisti ◽  
Sandra G. L. Persiani ◽  
Manuela Crespi
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Parametric Design ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Life Cycle Stage ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Operational Energy ◽  
Early Stage Design

Adaptive Building Technologies have opened up a growing field of architectural research aimed at improving the overall building performance, ensuring comfort while reducing operational energy consumption. Focusing on flexibility over short timeframes, these new technologies are however rarely designed within the broader frame of sustainability over their entire lifecycle. How sustainable these zero energy technologies really are is yet to be established. The purpose of the research is to develop a flexible easy-to-use Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool to support creative innovation and sustainable design choices in the early concept and design stages of Adaptive Building Technologies. This paper reports on the results of the first step of the research, providing a mapping in terms of structure and contents of the parameters involved in the design of these technologies. Addressed from a holistic point of view, the elements of the system were defined though a qualitative approach: relevant parameters were collected through document analysis, reviewing the state-of-the-art technology through online databases as ScienceDirect, Scopus, MDPI, ResearchGate, and organized according to hierarchy and relevance in the different life cycle stages. As a result, the paper identifies (1) relevant parameters defining the design of Adaptive Building Technologies; (2) materials, processes and concepts specific to the design of these technologies, as compared to conventional building technologies; (3) issues and knowledge gaps to enable successive research phases; (4) specific actions in each life cycle stage for designers and producers to optimize the design of the technology. The mapping graphically and hierarchically organizes the elements of the system within a flexible structure to be implemented and integrated over time, as the technology evolves, to support parametric design and enable alternative design concepts to arise within a cradle-to-cradle perspective.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment—A Survey Based Potential Future Development for Implementation and Interpretation

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 13688
Author(s):  
Jana Gerta Backes ◽  
Marzia Traverso
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Time Cost ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Recommendations For Action ◽  
Survey Evaluation ◽  
E Mail ◽  
Indicator Sets

The aim of this study is to define, via an online expert survey, current challenges and possible future approaches in and for the implementation, application, and interpretation of the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA). Using an online survey, sustainability experts from around the world were surveyed over a period of five weeks, resulting in 71 experts answering 25 questions. The experts were invited by e-mail and through networks; the online questionnaire was the preferred survey choice particularly for reasons of time, cost, and the pandemic. The survey evaluation shows that no change in LCSA is needed. Nevertheless, (1) a detailed optional baseline LCSA framework, with pre-selected fixed indicator sets, (2) a supporting optional but unified visualization tool, (3) a clear and transparent communication on assumptions, targets and system boundaries and (4) early defined stakeholders were identified as relevant for further LCSA implementation and interpretation. Due to natural subjectivity, the results of this written survey are to be understood as recommendations for action and orientation, not explicitly as a prediction. Finally, an action outlook for future LCSA-development is given.

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